Joseph thank you for opening an interesting thread! I was afraid it was going to be Trump forever!
Meno:”I understand that it has become acceptable, but I don’t think it should be.
Some people work for a living, others learn for a living. The learning people should take learning as seriously as the working people take working.”
I’m not so sure about that. Maybe people can take learning seriously and still be late to Kolel. While surely it’s important to keep times, some people might have to be somewhere else, or they are just not punctual.
There are actually job places where it’s acceptable to come to work late. I hear programmers do this often. why not compare learners to them? Or to self-employed people who come and go as they please?
It could be a problem of Gezel though, if someone gets payed for full hours while not being there all the time…
Joseph: “Davening is part of the Avoda of a learning man”
Davening is part of the Avoda of every man or woman! It doesn’t take from the rest of what you said, but I just couldn’t read this sentence.
“So spending more time davening at the expense of an equal amount of time of less learning is not a problem and is, indeed, just as worthy as his learning.”
I’m not sure everyone would agree. Do you have sources for that?
What if you finish Shmone Esre in 1.5 minutes, but you daven at a minyan where they take 5 minutes to finish. Is davening there still worth the time?
To answer the question, I think it’s an individual matter. Everyone should be aware of where they are in Avodas Hashem and which Minyan is appropriate for them (But like many good things today, where you daven has become a matter of social status)
On a side note, i’m considering this new internet law: “As a frum online discussion grows longer, the probability of it becoming a learners-workers fight approaches 1”. I hope this thread refutes it (: